Rep. Bill Cassidy (R., La.), a physician who is challenging incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (D.) this fall, helped treat a passenger on a returning flight to the D.C. area, on Monday.
According to the Times-Picayune:
For a passenger on Southwest Flight 2157 Monday between New Orleans and Baltimore, it might not have been a big deal that a congressman was on board.
But the passenger, who lost consciousness as the plane flew towards its destination, was no doubt happy the congressman also happened to be a physician.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, a physician by profession, along with another doctor on board, helped treat the passenger.
The man, in his 50s from the New Orleans area, was a "little bit cold," and was having trouble breathing, Cassidy said. The two doctors couldn't register a pulse, and the passenger's blood pressure was low.
Cassidy and other doctor got the man's shirt off, laid him flat on the airline seats, and helped him regain consciousness. His pulse and blood pressure soon neared normal levels.
With Cassidy’s assistance, the man, who "identified himself as a conservative," was able to sit up, and even "talked a little about the Senate race," Cassidy said.
A former associate professor of medicine at Louisiana State University, Cassidy provided care for uninsured patients and taught doctors in training for two decades, and co-founded the Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic, which provides free dental and health care to the working uninsured.